Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Claim
Massive blast at Beirut port, injuring dozens across the capital of Lebanon
Fact
Video of explosion at Beirut port on August 4, 2020
A “breaking news” video, as seen from the sea, has gone viral with the claim that it shows a massive blast at Beirut port, which has injured dozens across the capital of Lebanon. “The source of the explosion was initially believed to be a major fire at a warehouse for firecrackers near the port in Beirut,” the Instagram posts read.
Fact check
Newschecker first ran a keyword search for “Beirut port blast”, which did not throw up any credible news reports of a recent blast. We, however, were led to multiple news reports of the massive explosion in the Port of Beirut on August 4, 2020, that ripped through Lebanon’s capital, killing 218 people, injuring 7,000 and leaving 300,000 displaced. A fire at the Beirut port reportedly caused the detonation of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, which had been improperly stored in a port warehouse for six years.
“The blast, which is considered one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions to have been recorded, damaged 77,000 apartments and caused an estimated $3.8-4.6bn in material damage,” read an Al Jazeera infographic. Similar news reports can be seen here, here and here.
A reverse image search of keyframes of the viral video led us to this Youtube short, dated August 6, 2020, titled “Beirut explosion view from the sea”, indicating that the viral video is most likely of the same explosion. Similar videos of the blast, captured from different angles and by various news outlets, confirms that the viral video is of the 2020 incident. They can be seen here, here and here.
Conclusion
An old video of the August 4, 2020, Beirut port explosion is being falsely shared as a recent event.
Result: Missing Context
Source
Youtube video, La Nacion, Costa Rica, August 5, 2020
BBC News report, August 11, 2020
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
